For the Next Gen
by TheMightySwick
Summary: After a family tragedy, a father comforts his daughter and relates a story of himself as a Pokemon Trainer. POKEMON SHORT STORY.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Pokemon or any of its' characters. This is a fan-based creation and is not endorsed or funded or by any means meant to make a profit. This piece of fiction is solely for entertainment purposes. Please read, review, and enjoy.

This short story was inspired with the help of-  
Random Number Generator  
Pokedex  
First Line Generator

-

He was older than she thought.

On the night before she prepared to leave though, while she sat on the bed polishing Pokeballs, her father knocked slowly on the door and asked if he may come in...

"Of course, silly," Brittany answered back, not moving from the bed and turned her head in the direction of the door when she heard it open. Her father walked in and sat down beside her.

He smiled, "Tomorrow is the big day. I never dreamed it would come so fast. My little girl is about to go on her own Pokemon journey."

"Daaaad," Brittany sighed, a little irritated, "I'm not a little kid. I can handle a Pokemon just fine."

"I'm sure you can, honey, but listen... Toxicroak and I have been talking it over. He would like to go with you."

Brittany wasn't surprised in the least, "I knew he would. Toxicroak's like my best friend, I would never go anywhere without him." - the pokemon had grown up with her like an older sibling. They went everywhere and did everything together.

"Listen, sweetie, I want you both to take care of each other okay? Just because he's big doesn't mean that he never needs help..."

"Yes, Dad," Brittany said dutifully, although she didn't pay it much mind. She was quick to change the subject, "What wild Pokemon do you think I'll catch first? Maybe a Purrloin? Oh! A Nidoran even - !"

... and now she was wishing that she had paid her father more heed. She wished that her father would have told her just how old he was. Then maybe none of this would have happened.

Toxicroak laid still on the stretcher before her, looking peaceful.

She was alone in the room of the Pokemon Center, curtains closed, and dreading the moment her father would arrive. What would he say to her when he found out? She couldn't take her eyes off Toxicroak. The nurse had offered to lay a sheet over him, but Brittany refused. She couldn't believe it; he couldn't be gone. He'd been with her forever.

Brittany knew Toxicroak just wanted to make sure Brittany was going to be okay in the rough tough Pokemon world, and Toxicroak respected that Brittany felt like she needed to explore the world on her own. One Gym battle, one badge, and then Toxicroak would be back home enjoying his retirement with Dad. That's what they had agreed upon. And they had been so close.

Toxicroak had been old, the Pokemon doctor had said, his muscles and bones were deteriorating just like humans deteriorate as they get older. At some point in a human's life, it has to stop fighting and let the next generation fight the battles.

But Dad had said that Toxicroak insisted on going with Brittany on her Pokemon journey- to keep her safe. Just like when he went along with Dad... to keep him safe. Her father's very first Pokemon.

"Toxicroak," she choked on the words in between sobs, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean... I didn't want for this to happen..." - she hugged the cold lifeless form in both arms; her head resting on the already fading red throat sac. It broke her heart to run her arms over the broken limbs, the crushed half of Toxicroak's skull battered in. Brutal.

It seemed like an eternity later when Brittany's father arrived at the Pokemon Center, he made no sound but crept across the room and laid a hand on Brittany's shoulder. She lifted her head and looked at him with tears shimmering in her eyes and tear stains down both cheeks, looking older than he had ever seen her.

"Daddy," said Brittany in a voice a little more than a whisper, "Daddy, I'm sorry. Daddy, I didn't know. But Toxicroak... Toxicroak wanted to protect my Pokemon... he got crushed - he -"

Brittany's father wrapped his father in his arms and held her tightly, shedding a few silent tears for his beloved friend.

"It's okay, baby," her father murmurred, but Brittany could tell how much he was hurting inside, "... it's what Toxicroak wanted."

"Why didn't you make him stay?!" Brittany protested, suddenly tearing away from him, "If he'd have stayed, he would be okay!"

Her father couldn't help but laugh a little at that which made Brittany look both confused and furious at him.

"Toxicroak never liked to take orders from anybody," he explained as he lowered himself into one of the chairs by Toxicroak's bedside, "He got softer in his old age, but when he was a little Croagunk, he wouldn't listen no matter how many badges I won. He insisted on doing everything his own way..."

Brittany sat on her father's knee like she used to do as a small child. He had told her many stories about the origins of Pokemon, the heroes among Pokemon, and even about each of the Gym Leaders... but she had never asked her father about his own Pokemon journey.

Her father continued without being prompted, "We had to earn each other's respect, and it wasn't until we were fighting the Dragon-type Gym when it finally happened..."

_"He had freshly evolved into Toxicroak earlier that week, and after training a few afternoons in the tall grass, I felt my team was ready to take on the Gym Leader and secure our final badge. Just whenever I thought I was making any ground with Toxicroak, he would go way out of line just to prove he didn't trust my judgement, and that's exactly what happened. We weren't even fighting the Gym Leader which was kind of sad. It was just a punk with a Fracture. What I didn't know was that his Fracture knew a Flying-type move and totally took Toxicroak's Fighting-type for granted. But Toxicroak was pretty fast back then. He dodged it, but the gym halls were suspended in the air at that time and he didn't calculate for that so he nearly took a flying leap over the edge! I ran as fast as I could to grab him and caught him by the ankle before he started plummeting. We ended up having to forfeit the match that day, but I gained Toxicroak's respect. I guess he didn't expect me to risk my life for him. But after a few more days of nailing our strategy down, we challenged the Gym again and swept it..."_

"Wow, Dad," Brittany sighed, "I... never knew you and Toxicroak had such a history with the Gyms and stuff... what did you do once you won them all?"

"Toxicroak and I opened up a dojo to help both Trainers and their Pokemon become strong. Because the Pokemon we fight with are like our family."

Never were her father's words truer.

"... what exactly happened anyway?"

"Rock Crush..." Brittany answered, looking down at the ground, "...Toxicroak... he... he was protecting my Pokemon. I only had him out for a second. I just wanted him to get some experience. I didn't know... I didn't know he was going to use that move. Maybe then I would've used something else -" she had been playing the scenarios over and over in her head; things she could hav

Her father tried to sound glad for her; his voice lightening slightly, "Oh? You caught your first Pokemon? Well, what was it?"

Instead of telling her father flat out, she released him from the Pokeball and scooped it into her father's arms.

Brittany's father was at a loss for words when he noticed that he was holding a little violet Croagunk.

END


End file.
